Birthday Traditions 3
by Kate McCaye
Summary: Year 3. Sam and Daniel's birthday party. This year it's at O'Malley's. Somebody's Daddy's not too happy. SJ.
1. Anticipation

A/N: This takes place in Season 3. I don't write things in order, but I'm posting these year-by-year so they make sense to everyone. I have to say, this is my least favorite of any of the years I've written or planned out, but it's necessary. It's not bad, it's just not as funny as the others, but it's necessary. I also think it's pushing the mushy-factor a bit, but that's me. Anyway, here we go... Chapter 1 of 5

Birthday Traditions 3

Ch 1: Anticipation

It had been a very long year, thought Jack O'Neill as he stepped out of the shower to get ready for the evening's events. Actually, it was mainly the last four months that had been so long. Before that, things had been going fairly well.

They had rescued Carter's dad from hell. All right, so that hadn't been a lot of fun, he had got shot in the leg, and he really couldn't stand that Martouf guy, but it was a rescue mission for the history books. The super-secret history books, of course, but still.

After that whole ordeal, Carter had told them how remembering what (who, actually, Jack had politely refrained from pointing out) Jolinar had done to escape from there had really helped her separate her own feelings from Jolinar's. Jack wouldn't even pretend to understand how you could have someone else's feelings and memories, and he preferred not to think about that kind of stuff at all, but according to Carter, the only things she'd learned about Jolinar before had come from Martouf, so they weren't exactly unbiased, and that had been confusing.

Now, she had told them she realized no matter how similar Martouf seemed to think they were, she understood they were fundamentally very different. Like Jack couldn't have told her that. Still, it had been important to her apparently, and she had lightened up quite a bit after that.

And earlier in the year, everyone had got over the weird alternate reality Carter and Kawalsky's little visit without any major drama.

And speaking of "Major," he grinned as he remembered promoting his 2IC at the beginning of the year. He still regretted not being able to give that speech before Thor beamed him out. He knew he usually sucked at that kind of thing but he had really spent a lot of time on it this time, wanting to make sure she knew how much he valued everything she did. Oh well. He'd have to save it for the next time she got promoted.

The year had started off just fine, until he got stuck on that damn planet for what seemed like forever. That whole thing now occupied the 1 spot on his list of Stupid Things I've Done. He hadn't brought it up with Carter, even after he had made Daniel and Teal'c tell him everything he'd missed, but he knew how deeply he'd hurt her. He also knew that she didn't want to talk about it, even if he had a clue what to say, which he didn't.

He knew the Laira thing was bad, but he also knew his 2IC well enough to know that what had hurt her even more was that he hadn't thought she'd be able to come up with a way to get him home. He demanded impossible things from her on an almost daily basis, and she had never once failed to pull off something miraculous. He should have known she'd figure out a way to get him back, despite the way things had looked from his side of the gate.

Then, right after that, it seemed, Hammond had put him on that undercover assignment and he'd hurt them all that time. It saddened him to think it, but he sort of got the feeling from Carter that she was starting to get used to him disappointing her after that one. And that mission had hurt Daniel even more than Carter, because she had a better appreciation for Classified than Daniel did.

So, for the first time, he was worried about their birthday party. This was his favorite tradition with his team, for a number of reasons, one in particular, and if they couldn't get back to normal after this, he didn't think they ever would. They'd still be the closest unit at the SGC, but they'd lost the easy comradery he now realized he'd taken for granted before. As he dressed, he resolved never to take it for granted again if he could just get it back.

To help ease the tension and provide more distractions for everybody, this year he was having everyone meet at O'Malley's. He'd reserved a pool table and a large dinner table, and in addition to SG1, Janet, Cassie, General Hammond, and Jacob were all definitely going to be there.

Speaking of which, he had to hurry if he wanted to make sure he was the first one to arrive at O'Malley's. He grabbed his wallet and phone and hurried out the door, mentally crossing his fingers that tonight, while celebrating Sam and Daniel's birthday, he could mend a few fences as well.


	2. Friendly

Ch 2: Friendly

He had only been at O'Malley's long enough to be shown to the table when Teal'c, General Hammond, Jacob/Selmak, and Daniel all arrived. Everyone exchanged greetings. As Jack shook Jacob's hand, he couldn't help asking, "How was the trip?"

"Cute, Jack," Jacob said with a smirk. "Where's Sam?"

"She's coming with Cassie and the Doc. Which probably means they'll be at least half an hour late," he added.

"It is most fortunate for you that Dr. Fraiser did not hear that statement, O'Neill," Teal'c said evenly. Everyone laughed.

The waitress came over to take their drink orders, asking, "So, who's birthday is it?"

"This is the birthday boy right here," Jack said, clapping him on the back and showcasing him for the waitress a bit. Hey, she was pretty cute, and she had been eyeing Daniel hopefully as she approached the group. Not that dear old Danny-boy ever noticed those things.

"But the birthday girl isn't here yet," Jack continued. "Speaking of which," he announced to the group of men. "Should we get a pool going?" He looked at his watch. "It's 7:05, I'll put a round on... 7:20."

"No way, 7:45, easy," Daniel countered.

"You make a habit of betting on my daughter, Jack?" Jacob asked sternly.

"Er... not specifically on her, no..." he said nervously.

Jacob broke into a huge grin and said, "I'm in for... 8:00."

"8! And you're giving _me_ crap!" Jack said incredulously, turning to General Hammond and Teal'c. "Come on, guys, don't be party poopers."

"I'll go with 7:30," Hammond finally said.

"That's the spirit, sir. Teal'c. Come on, buddy."

"I wanted 7:20, O'Neill," he replied evenly.

"Oh. All right you're in at 7:20 also. And hey, I'll go double or nothing with you the first thing Carter does is blame Janet."

"And then Janet blames Cassie," Daniel predicted.

"And Cassandra Fraiser will be on her cell phone," Teal'c concluded.

"This is getting too complicated," Jacob complained as the waitress brought everyone's drinks and a couple of baskets of chips and salsa.

"Jacob, you drink beer?" Jack asked, somewhat surprised. Teal'c never drank, because his symbiote absorbed the alcohol, so there was no point.

"Oh yeah, Selmak thinks it's funny, so he leaves the alcohol alone when it enters my system. I guess since there's no real communication between a Jaffa and the infant, that's not a possibility for Teal'c." He turned to the largest man in the group and smiled sympathetically. "Bad luck for you, big guy."

"Perhaps," Teal'c acknowledged. "Although I enjoy ginger ale immensely, and on many occasions I have taken great pleasure in being the only member of the group not under the influence of alcohol."

"Really? On many occasions, huh," Jacob asked casually.

Jack, behind Jacob, started waving his hands at Teal'c, who pretended not to see him and continued. "Indeed, General Carter. For example, at the first birthday gathering O'Neill hosted, I was very amused by the game of Truth or Dare that transpired after the consumption of many Jell-O shots."

"Jell-O shots," Jacob said, narrowing his attention on Jack, who shrugged and tried to look innocent.

"That explains all those strange phone calls I got," General Hammond put in.

Jack smiled apologetically, but he knew the General well enough to know he was amused. The other General, he wasn't so sure about. There was a fine line between treating a man's daughter like a regular member of the team and... something else.

He decided it was time to refocus the group's attention. "Darts, Daniel?" he asked quickly, indicating the board set up to the left of the bar.

"Yeah, okay," Daniel agreed.

"O'Neill, I would like to challenge the winner."

Jack looked at the bar and nodded. "All right, that bartender that banned you isn't here tonight."

"Loser has to sing 'Happy Birthday' ALONE," Jack declared as he went to gather the darts.

"To myself?" Daniel asked skeptically.

"No, you sing to Carter when she gets here."

"All right," Daniel agreed. Everyone gathered at a safe distance to watch the battle.

Since it was Daniel's birthday, Jack let him go first. Daniel was surprisingly good at darts, Jack had learned shortly after the archaeologist moved back to Earth. He wasn't sure why, as Daniel freely confessed he had only played a couple of times before meeting Jack, but he was just naturally good at it for some reason.

But Jack had spent more than enough time playing darts in bars to make up for it. Everyone, predictably, was cheering for Daniel to win. As he got ready to throw the last dart, he did a little quick math and realized he needed a bulls eye to beat him.

Unfortunately, right as he threw the last dart, the three missing women entered. His 2IC was leading the group, taking off her coat as she looked for them in the crowd, and she looked so damn gorgeous that his grip slipped. The dart flew a wobbly although enthusiastic path, arching magnificently and sticking into the wall a good four feet below the outer rim of the target.

He watched its sad path as if it were in slow motion, aware of everybody laughing and teasing him as he glanced back at Carter, who was coming over to the group with Janet and Cassie and, thankfully, didn't seem to have noticed his spectacular display.

His guilty conscience demanded he turn to see if Jacob had noticed. Of course, he had. He didn't know how to respond to the glare he was being given. It wasn't as if the man's daughter was wearing anything particularly meant to elicit that kind of response from the general male population, but it had worked on him nonetheless.

In fact, compared to the microscopic black dress and four inch heels he just noticed the doc was wearing, Carter's long black skirt and red sweater were pretty damn sedate. But she had on more makeup than normal, was giggling as they hung up their coats, and still had a good three or four inches on Janet despite the doctor's shoes. And he'd always been a big fan of Sam Carter in red. Or blue. Or black. Well, he supposed he had never seen her in a color he didn't like.

"Jack, you're staring," Daniel whispered, clearly trying to save his friend from being murdered on the spot by an angry father.

Jack was so surprised Daniel had bothered saving him that he looked at the archaeologist with a sudden rush of grateful affection and felt hopeful for the first time that night. Even when their relationship was at its best, he would have put it to a toss-up if Daniel would help him out in a situation like that, or sit back, watch, and enjoy Jack's discomfort.

His embarrassment was put to the side as everyone greeted the three women. "Sorry we're late," Carter apologized instantly as she pecked Daniel on the cheek and turned to do the same to her father. "_I _was ready in plenty of time," she said, looking pointedly at Janet. She had now pecked Daniel, her dad, Teal'c, and General Hammond on the cheek. Nobody left but me, Jack thought smugly.

She caught his eye awkwardly as she leaned in to peck his cheek and he made himself stand very still, not wanting to risk incurring the wrath of Jacob (and potentially General Hammond as well) any further. She was so damn polite and formal in the greeting that he got even more concerned than he would have if she had given him an awkward handshake or a head nod. Uh-oh. That could be bad news.

"Hey, I wasn't that bad, it was Cassie!" Janet was objecting to Carter's accusation.

Everyone looked at the teenager, who was muttering into her cell phone, "Gotta go, bye." She hung up the phone, slipped it into her purse, and noticed everyone was staring at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Nothing," all the men said quickly.

Jack looked at his watch. 7:23. And they'd been there for a couple of minutes. "Sweet," he said quietly.

"Jack, I think you owe somebody a song," General Hammond reminded him as everyone went back over to the table.

"Right, thank you for reminding me of that, sir," Jack said with a plastered on smile.

Daniel was grinning triumphantly. Teal'c filled in Janet and Sam on the dart game they had missed (thankfully leaving out the reason behind Jack's loss.) While they were talking, Daniel leaned in quietly and said, "You can sing to Sam if you want, I don't care."

It was an interesting dilemma, and he didn't have enough time to properly weigh the choices. On the one hand, he was pretty sure he could make her blush if he picked Sam. On the other, her dad was already looking at him much more frequently than normal. Plus, if he sang to Daniel, he knew the archaeologist would be secretly pleased he had chosen to embarrass him over Sam and it would probably put him completely back in his good graces once and for all. And, possibly, Sam would be mildly impressed by his humiliating performance as well.

So, he supposed it wasn't actually that tough of a decision after all, as he cleared his throat loudly, clapped Daniel on the back again, and stood up on his chair. Both the restaurant and bar area were fairly crowded, so it was loud. That had never been a problem for Jack O'Neill.

He sang loudly and enthusiastically, deliberately off-key, concluding with an elongated and exaggerated, "HAAAAAAAAPPPPEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRTHDAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOUUUUUUUUUUU!" He went impossibly high on the last note. Teal'c even winced.

Daniel was looking embarrassed but laughing. Actually, everyone was laughing. Jacob chuckled slightly and Jack was pretty sure he heard the man ask General Hammond when Jack's last psych evaluation was. Sam was giggling.

"Um, if you're done can I get the drink orders for the rest of your group?" the waitress asked.

"Yeah," Jack said, surveying the group quickly. He had always been great at remembering people's drinks. He started with Sam. "Rum and Diet for the birthday girl, Jack and Coke for that one, Shirley Temple for the child..."

"HEY!" Cassie objected.

Jack ignored her and also asked for some more salsa. "What?" he asked defensively as he noticed that General Hammond was looking at him funny. Great, just what he needed. More bald men upset and breathing down his neck.


	3. The Party

Ch 3: The Party

Jacob and General Hammond quickly became the first to go play pool. Apparently they were reviving an old rivalry. Cassie went to go watch them and Jack took the opportunity to whip out the infamous Birthday Hats.

"Jack, you can't be serious..." Daniel started.

Carter's eyes got huge and she said, "Sir, we're out in public!"

Jack wasn't about to force them to put them on, but to his surprise Daniel shrugged and said, "Sam, come on it's tradition" and plucked the hat right out of Jack's hand, plopping it down on his head with a grin. Sam rolled her eyes slightly and put her tiara on.

At least it blended in somewhat with her hair from halfway across the room. Daniel's glittery top hat could probably be seen from space, Jack thought idly, wondering what possessed Daniel to go along so willingly. Ah well, he wasn't going to question the doctor's sudden acquiescence.

"Er, Carter, you've got some hair caught in your crown thingy," Jack started, moving to fix it. She turned to Daniel for help. He fixed it for her.

She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Better, sir?"

"Uh, yeah. Better!" Jack said with forced enthusiasm. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Daniel had been closer, it could have just been easier for him to help her out. Or maybe she didn't want him to do it. He couldn't tell. The waitress returned with their drinks and he decided he'd better try to stop overanalyzing everything. At least she had put the tiara on, after all.

The waitress was laughing at Daniel's hat and trying to flirt with him but he wasn't paying attention at all. "We'll order our food after those two finish their round of pool," Jack told the woman quietly. She nodded and left, looking disappointed that Daniel wasn't interested.

Jack glanced over at Carter, who was talking to Janet, and saw that she was watching the woman walk away as well. He caught her eye and she shrugged and gave him a 'what are ya gonna do' look. He grinned and shrugged back, then picked a seat at the table. Daniel and Teal'c went over to go play darts.

Janet and Carter came and sat down at the table as well. "Thanks for getting my dad here, sir, it was a great surprise!" she said sincerely.

"You're welcome, Carter, it's not like I had much to do with it though. The man does know when your birthday is, after all."

"Right," Janet said with a snort.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her and said, "Oh I owe you a thank you too, doc. I cashed in on your tendency to make those around you late for every function you attend."

Carter laughed and Janet finished her drink and said, "I'll keep that in mind next time I'm sticking you in the ass with a needle, Colonel."

"I'm sure you will, Doc," he replied. Teal'c, over near the bar, threw a dart so hard the entire board crashed to the ground. Jack groaned as the manager came over to talk to them, but left it to Daniel to handle.

"So you were all betting on how late we'd be?" Carter asked after they watched Daniel smooth things over and Teal'c and Daniel migrated over to the pool table with the others..

"Yup. Well, the betting had already started with the game of darts, so we just sort of..."

"And you won?"

"Yup. Both accounts. The time and the reason. Your dad guessed you wouldn't get here till 8, by the way."

Carter rolled her eyes but she was laughing. Janet, whose attention had been wandering over to the pool table as well, said, "I think I'll go watch them finish up their game." She got up, leaving Jack alone with his 2IC at the large table.

He ate several chips loaded up with salsa so he'd have something to do and then looked around wildly as he realized he was out of beer to wash them down. Feeling his cheeks burn, he looked around, but nobody had left their drink on the table but Cassie.

He eyed the pink Shirley Temple, which still had the cherries floating in it, and tried to decide if it was worth it. He glanced at Carter. She was watching him, clearly amused by his predicament. "Oh be quiet," he muttered as he grabbed the drink and took a huge gulp. Hey, that was pretty good actually. He grabbed a fork, stabbed at one of the cherries, and ate it quickly.

"Jack, get out of my drink!" Cassie called as she approached the table. She took it from him, glaring.

Jack shrugged and muttered, "Salsa emergency."

"Sam, sometimes I can't believe the things you let him get away with," Cassie commented, frowning into her mangled drink. Jack looked over at Carter, wincing. She was clearly thinking the same thing, only Cassie's innocent comment had obviously brought to mind much more serious infractions he had committed as of late. Damn. Things had been going better than he had expected up to that point too.

The awkwardness was broken up by the return of the two generals. From the smug way Jacob was grinning, Jack didn't need to ask who had won their match. Everyone sat down, chatting casually, until Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet came back as well and they all ordered their food.

"Now we settle in for the long haul," Jack muttered under his breath. The actual dinner part of the evening was sure to be the longest and most trying. Carter was sat directly across from him but hadn't met his eye since the thing with Cassie's drink. She was cheerfully participating in the conversation but seemed almost... too cheerful to Jack. It had him worried slightly.

Daniel, on the other hand, had obviously completely forgiven him, so the night had already proven halfway successful. The archaeologist was a bit drunk, having had nearly one entire bottle of beer, and was going on and on to Generals Hammond and Carter about how thoughtful Jack always was on their birthdays. Jack was getting more and more fed up with Daniel's continued appreciation for several reasons.

One, he had a carefully honed reputation as a gruff, hard-assed Colonel that he'd just as soon the two-star Generals think was completely true. Second, during Daniel's descriptions of the previous two birthdays, some of his stories tended to sound incriminating with regards to his relationship to his 2IC. Particularly the part about the kitten getting stuck to his chest the previous year, his ex-wife showing up, Carter running around in his tee-shirt... yeah, he pretty much started praying for Thor to beam him up when Daniel got to that part.

The worst part of it was that Carter didn't look embarrassed at all, she just looked pissed off at Daniel for telling her dad that, pissed off at Jack for looking embarrassed about it, and pissed off at her Dad for inferring that there was something between them.

Jack shot Teal'c a look of defeat. His largest friend nodded, and while Daniel had paused in his diatribe to eat a forkful of mashed potatoes, Teal'c leaned over and spoke quietly to Daniel. Daniel nodded enthusiastically and suddenly started talking about a special he had just seen on the History channel. A sinfully boring topic that everyone could easily tune out.

Jack stabbed moodily at a carrot on his plate and glanced at Carter, who was talking quietly to Cassie about something. Both of them kept glancing at Janet and Daniel, who were both pretty drunk. Carter and Cassie were both very giggly. At least someone was having fun.


	4. Caught

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone, I really appreciate all the thoughts and input. Gateseeker2: We're on the same page, I usually pretend Pete does not exist but I am quite eager to get to writing the party and requisite kiss dilemma for year 7, possibly for year 8 as well even.

This chapter is a bit... odd. This whole fic is odd, to me. I mean, the whole premise is that they're not supposed to talk about this tradition thing they have going on. The basic point of this fic is to make them realize that things are still getting complicated despite their rules. Actually, now that I think of it, this whole fic is basically a set-up for year 4's party. Anyway, on with this one. One more chapter to go after this.

Ch 4: Caught

When everybody had finished eating and ordered more drinks, the waitress brought out the cakes Jack had supplied, lit with sparklers as usual. She and the waiters helping her carry them started singing "Happy Birthday" and everyone at their table, as well as several other restaurant patrons, joined in. Teal'c was loudest of all.

Cake was a wonderful thing, Jack though happily as he took a huge bite of the chocolatey-goodness. Cake makes people happy. "Cake is good," he mumbled. Cassie and Janet looked at him funny, then both burst out laughing.

"That was profound," Janet said.

"You've got cake on your nose," Jack pointed out. Embarrassed, Janet wiped at her nose quickly. Cassie laughed even harder. Janet pulled away a clean napkin and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Gotcha."

"Really mature, Colonel," Janet said, crumpling up her napkin and throwing it at him.

After the cake and presents, everyone wanted to play pool. Teal'c, Daniel, Janet, and Cassie all preferred to watch, so General Hammond suggested teaming up with his buddy Jacob and 'teaching the kids a lesson.'

"Kids?" Daniel called as Jack grabbed the triangle. "What kids? Jack's closer to your age than Sam's!"

"Thanks for that, Daniel," Jack said grumpily as everyone laughed.

They played three games of pool, which would have been great fun under normal circumstances, because Carter was wicked at pool, and clearly enjoyed beating her dad at a game Jack could only imagine Jacob had spent years and years winning. Somehow Jacob Carter didn't seem like the kind of dad who thought letting his kids win anything was important.

These weren't really normal circumstances, however. Jacob and George had a great comradery going with their team. Carter was being painfully formal and polite, telling him, "Good shot" after every ball he sank and "Nice try," whenever he missed. They didn't even gloat properly when they won, and Jack would have loved the opportunity to rub their victory in the Generals' faces a bit. Jack doubted anybody else noticed Carter wasn't too happy with him. Well, anybody but Teal'c that is. Teal'c knew everything. As soon as they had finished their third game, Carter excused herself to go to the ladies'.

Jack watched her go and took a deep breath, suddenly deciding to change the rest of his plans and go try to clear the air between them once and for all. It was probably a decision heavily influenced by all the beer, but he wasn't going to stop and second-guess it now. He discreetly excused himself as well, but instead of going into the men's toilet he took a deep breath and let himself into the ladies'.

Carter was washing her hands. She caught sight of him in the mirror and jumped slightly, then turned around quickly and demanded, "Sir, what are you doing in here?"

He passed her a few paper towels to dry her hands. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just... I want to talk to you."

"It couldn't wait?" she asked, lobbing the wad of wet paper past him and into the trash can.

"Nice shot. And no. I mean... I didn't want to wait until the party was over."

She nodded quietly and leaned back against the counter, waiting for him to start talking. When several moments passed in silence she said, "Sir, please, if you're not going to say anything, I'd like to get back to everyone."

"I haven't done much this year I'm proud of," he blurted out. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden confession. He ran a hand through his hair and continued unsteadily. "I screwed everything up between the whole team. Daniel's forgiven me already, for some reason, I don't know, sometime between today at work and tonight, but I can't... I never know what you're thinking. Especially tonight. Half the time you seem like everything's back to normal, but then... I just want to _know. _I'm... I'm sorry I screwed everything up. Edora, then not telling you guys about the undercover op..."

"You couldn't, you were..." she started automatically.

"I wasn't supposed to. I should have done it anyway. I... I'm crap at this. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry." He took a deep breath and went ahead bravely. "I just... can I kiss you now? Your birthday kiss?"

Her eyes got even bigger and she opened her mouth in surprise and nodded finally, almost imperceptibly. Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer to her, forcing himself to leave a bit of space between their bodies. He was taking a big risk here, he knew. He didn't have a clue what to say, that was for sure, and the alternate reality Carter had said sometimes he didn't need to, and who better to take advice from about herself...

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and leaned in, unable, he realized as he made contact with her lips, to keep how nervous and worried he was from being projected to her. She didn't respond, but didn't pull away either, and that was exactly what he needed. He thought about how scared he had been feeling that he'd done irreparable damage not only to the team but to their personal relationship as well.

He stopped trying to hold back his feelings and instead let them pour themselves into the kiss. When she finally let him in, relief and hope washed over him and he pulled her in closer, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs slowly and smiling the tiniest bit against her mouth. Her hands settled on his chest lightly and she started to kiss him back, but he wasn't done apologizing, not by a long shot. She got the message and let him continue.

He was amazed at what they were doing. It was like having a silent dialogue neither would have ever been able or willing to have out loud. Most of his half was a repeating mantra of "I'm so, so, so sorry." She was listening, patiently letting him get it all out.

He wasn't sure if the thoughts were really coming from her or if it was his own guilt surfacing, but he kept thinking of very specific moments, like the hurt in her eyes when he'd dismissed her in the hallway with a sharp, "No, Carter. I haven't been acting like myself since I met you." He tried to remove the sting from that remark with gentle caresses of his tongue.

As soon as he got the feeling that moment had been erased, he moved on to the next one. He had no idea how long they held that silent conversation, but when he could finally think of nothing else to say he broke the kiss after lingering only a few seconds more.

She looked at him with impossibly huge eyes sparkling with tears and he gave a small, nervous, hopeful smile. She smiled back slowly and stepped closer to him, glancing down at his lips and looking suddenly shy. She met his eyes again and said quietly, "You're wrong, Colonel."

"I am? Not that it's a first but... huh?" His hands slid off her face, down her neck and across her shoulders where they came to a gentle stop.

"You _have _done a lot to be proud of this year, sir," she said in a quiet but firm voice. "A lot more to be proud of than not. We... and I specifically... should have remembered that sooner, instead of focusing so much on... those two things. I just... grew used to things being a certain way between us - all of us - that were... unfair expectations."

"No they aren't," he insisted.

She smiled. "Okay, maybe" she agreed. "But I guess what I mean is... you're... you're an amazing man, Colonel." She leaned in towards him and he leaned back in surprise.

"What are you doing?" he croaked.

"Responding to your argument."

"We... you...I... _one _kiss. That's the rule, I don't know if..."

"_You _kissed _me. _I didn't get to kiss you back yet. That was only half of the tradition," she said quietly.

"Oh, God, Sam, you're..." he started.

She cut him off, pressing her lips firmly to his. His hands slid down her arms and curled around her waist automatically. She slid her hands up to his face exactly as he'd done to her, pulling him closer, bringing their bodies into full contact with each other.

She had just started nibbling his bottom lip when the bathroom door opened and a familiar thirteen year-old voice called, "Sam, you okay, you've... WOA!"

They jumped apart, but not quickly enough, Jack was positive.

Cassie was frozen, gaping at them both. He had no idea where to start explaining why he was even in the ladies' toilet, let alone in an intimate lip-lock with his 2IC. He realized his hands were still on her waist and pulled them back quickly.

Carter, thankfully, recovered the power of speech faster than he did. "Cassie, this isn't what it looks like," she said quickly.

"Yes it is!" Cassie countered bluntly, her eyes wandering over their flushed and ruffled appearances.

"Okay," Sam corrected. "It... was... what it looked like, but it's not what you think. Look, Cassie, you can't tell _anyone _about this, okay."

"So you're saying it was just a one-time thing or something?"

"More of an... annual thing," Jack supplied.

"You guys do _that _every year!"

"It's a tradition," Sam supplied somewhat lamely.

Cassie was still looking at them in shock when the door started to open again. She slammed it shut quickly, calling, "Just a minute!"

"Cassandra! Open this door!" her mother called.

Jack froze. He was dead now. Cassie could be persuaded to keep quiet, but there was no way the doc... "Get in here!" Sam hissed, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and dragging him into the nearest stall. She shoved him unceremoniously inside and pulled the door shut.

He locked it dutifully as he heard Cassie and Sam muttering, "You good?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah."

Cassie let her mom in, saying, "Hey, Mom!" in a loud, too-cheerful voice.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Janet demanded, in the same tone of voice she used when she caught Jack and Daniel building log cabins out of tongue depressors that one time in the infirmary.

"Uh, well, I was... on my phone, Mom. I'm sorry, I know I told you I'd leave it alone during the party, but a very good friend of mine had a... situation with a guy she's crazy about and I had to hear _all _about it."

Crazy about, huh? Jack grinned at the closed stall door. There was a silence that seemed to drag on forever.

Finally, Janet said, "All right, hand over your phone and let's go back to the party. Have either of you seen Colonel O'Neill? It's getting pretty late, and General Hammond needs to get back to the base soon."

"I haven't seen him," Sam said quickly. Damn, that sounded suspicious.

"I did," Cassie said. "He went outside to check on the base since General Hammond's having such a good time. He wanted to make sure things were under control. Come on, let's go, I want to play pool one more time, Sam!"

Jack heard them all leave and breathed a sigh of relief. He owed Cassie big time.


	5. Caught again

A/N: Okay, here's the last chapter of this installment. I was going to post it earlier but when I re-read it, I couldn't stand it. It's so... mushy! Then I read it again a few hours later and thought it was okay, so I figured I'd better go ahead and post it while I thought it was all right. I'll probably regret that decision later but oh well.

Ch 5: Caught again

Jack quickly checked his appearance in the mirror and took a few calming breaths before heading back to the party. He couldn't believe all that had just happened. He had nearly gotten busted by the Keeper of Large Needles, and _had _been busted by her offspring. More importantly, Carter had definitely forgiven him and things were back to normal, or what passed for normal in his very strange life. That included the nearly palpable level of tension between them that was always super-heightened in situations like this, he realized as he rejoined the group.

Carter and Daniel were thanking the General and Jacob for coming. Carter was stood next to Daniel's stool, which was apparently trying to throw Daniel off because he had his arms around her shoulders and was leaning into her heavily for balance. Apparently he'd knocked back a couple more while Jack and Sam were in the bathroom, Jack thought darkly, glaring at the archaeologist, who put on a pouty face as he saw the look Jack was giving him. Jack quickly replaced the glare with an innocently amused look, which only confused Daniel.

Carter, who had her arms around Daniel to help support him and was rubbing his back in big, comforting circles, caught the whole thing however and put two and two together at the speed others could only aspire to. She raised an eyebrow at him with a slight smirk and looked like she was going to comment but her Dad cut off Jack's view of her as he hugged her goodbye, forced to include Daniel in the hug as well to keep the lad on his feet.

Jacob ruffled Daniel's hair and wished him happy birthday once more and Daniel grinned and thanked him. Jack liked Jacob even more for that; Daniel needed all the father figures he could get. Jacob and the General said goodbye to everyone else, then got round to him.

General Hammond shook his hand and said, "Make out okay?"

"What!" Jack coughed and spluttered. Yeah, he was smooth.

"Cassie said you were calling the SGC, I was just making sure things are still okay there," Hammond explained in the voice he reserved for his youngest grandchildren and Colonel O'Neill.

"Oh, yeah. Uh, of course. Yeah. Everything's just peachy back at the base sir," he said quickly, shaking his hand vigorously. "See you tomorrow, sir. And Jacob, always a pleasure!" he added enthusiastically, shaking his hand as well.

Jacob looked at him like he was insane and asked suspiciously, "Are you okay? Your face is bright red. You're not having a heart attack are you?"

"No, no, no, I'm fine. It's just a little warm in here."

"Are you sure, because at your age, you've got to be careful..."

Carter snorted and Cassie burst into giggles. Jack glared at them both and squeezed Janet's shoulder. "The doc here tells me I'm in perfect physical condition I'll have you know, Jacob. But thanks for being so concerned about my health, it means a lot."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at him and finally shook his head. "See ya, Jack."

"Safe trip!" he called enthusiastically. Jacob rolled his eyes, waved at everyone again, and followed General Hammond out of the restaurant.

"Smooth," Cassie whispered as she reached past him for her coat. Jack glared at her.

"O'Neill, I will drive," Teal'c said as everyone started gathering up their things.

"Thanks, T," Jack said, stacking up the remaining cake boxes and handing them to Cassie. "You're in charge of those in the car," he said.

"Okay."

Everyone went out to Carter's car. "Shotgun!" Cassie yelled immediately, hurrying over to the front seat.

"What? No way, you're the smallest one here!" Jack argued.

"I've got the cakes," she pointed out. "Plus I called it. You'll all just have to squish in the back," she added innocently as Teal'c unlocked the car and she slid into the passenger seat. Daniel and Janet, both drunk, shrugged and slid into the car, Daniel against the right door.

"After you," Jack insisted as he opened the door. Carter gave him a look that roughly meant, "This is a really bad idea." He shrugged. There was nothing else to do about it.

Janet and Daniel were apparently trying to keep as much space as possible between them, which was hard in the small space and meant even less space for Sam and Jack. "Janet, move over," Sam hissed as Jack tried to nudge her further along the bench seat so he could shut the door.

"I can't," she objected.

"Yes you can. Daniel's not going to throw up on you!"

"He might!" Janet and Jack said at the same time.

"Hey," Daniel objected half-heartedly, slumping against the door.

"Well, somebody better move because my ass is hanging out the door freezing," Jack said.

"Stop being babies, Sam, just sit on Jack's lap," Cassie said in a bossy voice, turning on the radio.

Sam flushed as Jack waggled his eyebrows. "Better do what Miss Fraiser says, Carter," he said lightly, not really expecting her to go along with it. To his shock, she stood up as best she could, waiting for him to slide all the way into the car. He shut the door and she sat down carefully on his lap, as close to his knees as possible.

"You okay?"

"No, you're hurting my knees," he said honestly. "Plus that's not safe," he added as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her back into his lap completely, so that her back was pressed snugly to his chest.

"I'm not so sure this is safe either," she murmured quietly. He looked at her in surprise. She almost never teased him back, especially when other people could hear.

"Is everyone seated?" Teal'c asked as he finally started the car.

"Yeah. T, take the Fraiser ladies home first," Jack instructed.

"As you wish, O'Neill."

"It's freezing back here!" Janet called up to Cassie after a few minutes.

Cassie fiddled with the controls and turned to look at them. "Better?" she asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Daniel, are you okay?" Cassie asked, looking at her greenish friend.

"Yes, turn around," Daniel begged.

The doctor part of Janet's brain took over and she pressed a cool hand to his forehead. "Are you going to be sick?"

"God, I hope not," he mumbled, wincing and shutting his eyes.

"Daniel?" Sam asked, leaning over Janet to try and get a closer look at him. Teal'c took a turn and Sam was about to slide right off of Jack's lap and crash into Janet, but Jack pulled her back against him again. She settled against him sideways, leaning back against his arm and the door.

It was a more secure way to sit, but also more intimate because now he could see the side of her face, which was only a few inches from his own. "Just be still," he said quietly. She nodded a tiny bit and slipped her arm around his shoulders. It made sense, as her arm had been uncomfortably trapped between them, but he couldn't hide the shiver that passed through him as it brought her soft, sweater-clad torso against his chest. Her legs were tucked back around his right leg, crossed at the ankle to keep them out of Janet's way.

Cassie turned around again and winked at them hugely. "Shut up, Cassie," they both said.

"What?" Cassie asked innocently. "Can't handle a little innocent teasing? It's not as if you have something to hide." Oh yeah. She was going to make them both pay big time for keeping their secret, Jack had no doubt about that. Visions of spending entire weekends shoe shopping with her passed through his head.

"Am I hurting you?" Carter whispered, misinterpreting the shudder that passed through him at that horrifying thought.

"No, not at all. I was just thinking about... shoes," he explained. She looked at him for an explanation and then apparently decided she was better off not knowing, because she shook her head with a rueful smile and glanced over at Janet and Daniel.

Jack followed her gaze. Janet looked like she was about to fall asleep. Her head was wobbling a lot. "Janet's going to hurt herself," he whispered.

Sam shrugged. Leaning forward slightly, she gently pushed Janet's shoulder. The doctor slumped over against Daniel and they both squirmed a little to get more comfortable, and stayed there. "Problem solved," Sam said, turning to him with a grin.

He swallowed hard, her face was very, very close to his. Last time it had been that close, she had kissed him... he groaned and broke the eye contact, looking around the car for something else to focus on. Teal'c took a sharp corner and her other arm instinctively joined the one she already had around him in an effort to keep herself in the same spot. He sighed heavily and leaned his head back against the headrest. Cassie was pure evil, manipulating them into this position after catching them in the bathroom... Carter and Janet were both quite small, there was no reason they couldn't squish the four of them on the backseat if they needed to.

Carter yawned and leaned into him more, her hair tickling his nose. He brushed it out of the way, lingering just a bit longer than necessary. She sighed. He wondered if she knew she was drawing gate coordinates on his shoulders. Hey, if she was going to start it... his hands had just been itching to rub the soft red fabric of her sweater. So he let them, unable to keep the smug smile off his face when he felt her inhale sharply at the contact.

"Hey, we're stopped," he suddenly realized. Teal'c glanced at him in the rearview mirror, while Cassie turned to look at him, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Jack, we've been waiting stopped for a train for the past five minutes. Do I need to do a hand check back there?"

"Maybe for your mother. Turn around, Cassie." Cassie glanced at her mom, who was asleep on Daniel's shoulder, and turned back around.

Okay, so he hadn't noticed the car had stopped moving. So what? Still, he should probably try to calm down a bit. To distract himself, he looked out the window and froze.

No. No no no no no.

"Carter," he said quietly with his jaw clenched.

"What?"

"Is that... your father?" he gritted out, nodding his head slightly in the direction of the car next to him, where he was positive he had just seen Jacob Carter's eyes flashing at him from the passenger seat.

"Oh, very funny, Colonel," Carter said sarcastically.

"I'm. Not. Joking," he said evenly. She froze, her mouth open slightly. "Carter. He saw me see him. You have to..."

"I'm not looking," she insisted, as though closing her eyes and willing it not to be true would make it so. "What about General Hammond? He's driving, right?"

"Yeah, I was a little too preoccupied with the death rays your dad was shooting out his eyes at me."

"It's dark, he can't see..."

"He can see enough! Carter, you have to say something to him."

She sighed and rolled down the window. "Dad! Hi!" Her father looked at her in shock for several moments and rolled down his own window.

General Hammond said loudly, "Colonel O'Neill, my office nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, sir!" Jack called obediently. He wasn't worried about that, not really. They had four witnesses, after all, and it was _almost _necessary for him to be holding his 2IC in his lap, under the circumstances. He was more worried about Jacob, who still hadn't spoken.

"Samantha," Selmak finally spoke. "Your father is a little... angry right now. I will calm him down. He will want to speak to you tomorrow. I suggest Colonel O'Neill remain far, far away until we have left your planet."

"Thanks, Selmak." The train was gone, and the bars raised. "Er... bye."

Teal'c let them go ahead and then continued driving. Luckily, the two cars went in separate directions within half a block. As soon as they were out of sight, Carter buried her face in Jack's neck with a muffled, "This is not going to be fun."

"Hey, you're not the one who's going to be killed," he said lightly, rubbing her back.

"I will protect you both should the situation arise," Teal'c said evenly.

"Me too!" Cassie added stubbornly.

"Thanks," Jack mumbled.

They soon pulled into the driveway of the Fraiser household. "Teal'c, you might want to help Cassie with Janet," Sam suggested as she rubbed her friend's shoulder to wake her up. Teal'c nodded and got out of the car with Cassie.

Janet sat up with a definite pout on her face. "I was comfy," she argued to Sam.

"I could see that. But you're home now. You okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. I didn't have _that _much, Sam, not like the night we made Midnight Margaritas and..."

"Okay, thank you, let's not go into that right now, Janet," Sam said loudly, glancing at her CO, who had suddenly become _very _interested in their conversation.

"I'll call you tomorrow, Jan, get out of the car now, okay?"

"All right, Sam, happy birthday," Janet said, hugging her friend awkwardly in the crowded backseat.

"Wake up, Danny boy, you're missing the SGC's version of 'Girls Gone Wild!'" Jack commented.

Sam rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly as Teal'c opened the passenger door, keeping a half-awake Daniel propped upright while helping Janet climb over him and out of the car. Teal'c shut the door and Jack and Sam were suddenly left alone in the running car with only a sleeping archaeologist for company.

"I'm really sorry about that, sir. About my dad," Carter said quickly.

"Not your fault," he said grimly. "It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal if your dad hadn't already caught me staring at you about fifty times tonight."

She looked at him in surprise, her mouth open slightly.

It was a very good thing that Daniel chose that moment to start making himself more comfortable on the narrow seat. He settled with his back against the door, his seat belt holding him up in a slouched position, his legs now stretched out along the rest of the bench seat, bent at strange angles. He was taking up the rest of the seat.

Jack realized he should let go of Carter so she could go get up front with Teal'c, but couldn't seem to make his arms release her. If she wanted to get up, she'd just have to tell him to let go of her, he concluded.

She didn't tell him to let go of her. If anything, she snuggled even closer to him, twisting completely sideways in his lap and stretching her legs out on top of Daniel over the rest of the seat. When Teal'c returned to the car, he slid back behind the wheel, looked at them, and decided they weren't going to move. He buckled his seat belt and put the car into reverse.

The drive to Jack's was longer than the drive to Janet's, Jack thought with a small smile. Tomorrow everything would go back to normal. He would meet with Hammond, assure him nothing untoward had been taking place between them, and then for the next year they would both remain right on the edge of each other's personal space and keep their hands to themselves. Well, mostly. He supposed there was always the inevitable life-and-death injury to look forward to. Those usually required touching at some point. Then of course there was the whole slew of things that fell under the vague category "alien influence..."

All in all, he was damn well not going to ruin the last few minutes of her birthday worrying about any of that. Remembering the thoughts that had flashed through his mind when he'd watched Daniel nuzzling her shoulder in the restaurant, he rested his cheek against her and sighed, one hand rubbing the soft sweater material covering her waist, the other squeezing one of her knees lightly through her skirt.

As they got closer to his house, he realized she was asleep. He smiled against her shoulder and closed his eyes as well, drifting off a bit until Teal'c rolled to a stop in front of his house. He reluctantly forced his tired eyes back open and met Teal'c's calm gaze in the rearview mirror. Neither of them moved for several moments. Teal'c wordlessly put the car back into drive. Jack smiled again and let his eyes drift closed.

Teal'c glanced at the gas meter. Half a tank. He allowed himself a small smile as he looked back at the rest of his team, all of whom were now asleep, all with small smiles on their faces.

The end.

A/N: Next is, not surprisingly, Birthday Traditions 4. Story ID: 2262252


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